Saturday, April 30, 2005

The blog of despond

When did everybody get so goddam creepy? From Justin Raimundo’s blog (antiwar.com):“People all across the political spectrum, encompassing all possible views on the Iraq war, stopped for a moment of rueful silence when the news broke that Marla Ruzicka was killed by a suicide bomber the other day. Well, almost everyone, that is, except for one Debbie Schlussel, a right-wing columnist who tries to market herself as a kind of third-rate Ann Coulter (complete with a bad dye job and a come-hither sulk). She is glad that Marla is dead. She said so in her column. So is David Horowitz, the neoconservative demagogue who makes $180,000 a year (and more) cashing-in on his Communist-Marxist past (he's sorry, oh-sooooooo-sorry!). He published Schlussel's hate-filled screed on his smear site. Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but the neocon crazies have reached a new low. Here's a taste of Schlussel's poisonous brew:

“‘When The New York Times, Nightline, and CNN nominate a young blonde for sainthood ahead of the Pope, it's time for a reality check. Especially when that blonde, Marla Ruzicka's sole purpose is to legitimize our enemies, cause problems for U.S. troops already in harm's way, and morally equate dead terrorists with victims of 9/11.’

“Ruzicka spent the final years of her life trying to compensate the maimed, comfort the families of civilian ‘collateral damage,’ and heal at least some of the ‘liberating’ wounds inflicted by U.S. military action in Iraq. … What's truly sickening about Schlussel's slime, however, is the sheer envy that emanates from it like a bad smell wafting up from her prose:

"’A 28-year-old San Franciscan, Ruzicka was in Iraq to help the Iraqi people, proclaim the multi-orgasmic mainstream media memorials to her. Even the Wall Street Journal's normally excellent Robert Pollock mourned Ambassador Marla for being a less gnarly America-hater than the others. … With her cascading blonde hair and youthful looks, Ruzicka didn't look like your average greasy-haired, pot-smoking, hackey-sack-playing, crunchy radical. And the media swooned over her, the newly-anointed Vanity Fair pin-up in Birkenstocks.’

“Yeah, Debbie, Marla was a real blonde – unlike your haggish self. And she was young – again, unlike yourself, in spite of the few pounds of makeup you slosh on your tired old forty-if-you're-a-day face. But recognizing the roots (if you'll pardon the expression) of Schlussel's schadenfreude would require a ‘reality check’ on Debbie Dye-job's part, which is not about to happen. Apart from outright envy, however, what exactly is Schlussel's beef? She writes:

"’Marla Ruzicka was no mere peace activist. She formed the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), the goal of which was anything but CIVIC during the War on Terror or ever. Ruzicka's aim was to force the U.S. government to get an accurate count of innocent civilian deaths by U.S. Troops and blackmail America into paying monetary settlements for each death."

…

“What is truly disgusting about Schlussel's bile, however, is the ironic quote marks around the words ‘innocent civilians.’ As Schlussel puts it:

"'Ruzicka had the gall to insist that these Afghani and Iraqi dead, terrorists or not, get recognition and sympathy equal to victims of the 9/11 attacks.'

“A normal person might ask: Why shouldn't they get our sympathy if they aren't 'terrorists'? Because, in Debbie's World, there are no innocent civilians in the Middle East – except in Israel (of course!). All those damned Ay-rabs are guilty, in her view, and deserve death, or at least a good maiming. …

"’Where was Marla Ruzicka on 9/11? Hint: Not asking al-Qaeda for money to count and compensate U.S. victims of terror.’

“Talk about moral equivalence! It is Schlussel who is here equating Bin Laden & Co. with the U.S. ….

Schlussel resorts to a series of brazen lies in a frantic effort to smear the fallen Marla, starting with the canard that she was helping the insurgents in Iraq:

"’In Iraq, where Ruzicka traveled with the group, Code Pink functioned as a pro-Saddam – and now pro-insurgent – group of anti-Americans. … Remember the Americans burnt to a crisp and hung from a bridge in the Fallujah uprising? Code Pink donated over $650,000 to those Fallujah terrorists (Code Pinkos call them refugees.)"….

“I want to apologize to my readers for making them wade through Schlussel's river of sh*t – but we have to look straight in the face of evil if we want to be able to overcome it. I promise you we're almost done, yet there's one last matter to attend to here. Schlussel writes:

"’While it's a sad day when any American gets killed by Islamic terrorists, it's measurably less sad when that American aided and abetted them – and belittled our troops. For Marla Ruzicka, some might call it, poetic justice.’…

“Enough is enough. We're long overdue for a little spring cleaning: let's freshen the air and take this bitch down.”

CommentSchlussel’s relish in dancing on the grave of a martyred activist is more than equalled by Raimundo’s pointless relish in trashing Debbie Schlussel’s personal appearance. What the hell does her hair color have to do with anything? I am so sick of these people.